Toledo man guilty in 2012 shootings of 2 men in city

42-year-old could get up to 17 years in prison

6/10/2014

On the day he was to have gone to trial, a Toledo man entered an Alford plea Monday to two counts of felonious assault for shooting two men in 2012.

Darnell Gibson, 42, of 1015 Delence St., who also uses the name Marco Prada, faces up to 17 years in prison when he is sentenced June 23 by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Myron Duhart.

J. Christopher Anderson, an assistant county prosecutor, told the court Gibson was outside 468 Parker St. with a group of people Oct. 26, 2012, when he put a gun to the back of the head of Charles Marshall. Mr. Marshall felt the gun and took off, Mr. Anderson said, prompting Gibson to fire at him. A bullet grazed his neck.

Joe Sandifer — a witness to the shooting who knew Gibson — then asked him what he was doing and, after exchanging words with Mr. Sandifer, Gibson shot him in the arm and in the chest. Mr. Anderson said Mr. Sandifer spent nearly a month in the hospital.

In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to committing a crime, but acknowledges evidence is sufficient for a conviction that could result in a more severe sentence. The court treats it as a guilty plea.